Trade Your Soul For A Candy Bar?
by gabe-trickster
Summary: Castiel has been sent to retrieve John Winchester's soul in order to help in their fight against Lucifer. But The Trickster has also taken an interest in as well and has trapped John in a scenario based on the movie "Poltergeist".
1. Enter The Family Stage Right

Title: Trade Your Soul For A Candy Bar?

Author: gabe-trickster

Rating: PG

Category/Keywords: Comedy Gabriel/Castiel/John Winchester/Ghostfacers

Spoilers: Uhhh I guess anything after Season 1 dealing with John Winchester, Castiel and The Trickster

Dedication: To all SPN fans present and future. To all the Gabester Girls/Twicksters/Richard fans. My friend Kat who was the first to encourage me to give a shot at writing The Trickster. If it wasn't for her I never would have. Thanks, Kat! To my friend Michael who played a GREAT John Winchester and made this original thread challenging for me writing wise. We never got a chance to finish it but through this fic I am. To those who encouraged me to post this and finish it

Summary: John Winchester's soul has been floating around since he escaped from Hell and Castiel has been sent to retrieve it in order to help in their fight against Lucifer. But what he didn't count on was that The Trickster has also taken an interest in as well and has trapped John in a scenario based on the movie "Poltergeist". Can John and Castiel both escape or will the Trickster have two more victims to add to his list?

Feedback: Please! I love it!

Archive: Sure! Just let me know where it's going!

Disclaimer: All characters of Supernatural belong to Eric Kripke and Warner Brothers. Any resemblance to the original characters in this fic is purely coincidental. I am not making any money off of this whatsoever so PLEASE don't sue me!

**NOTE: **This takes place in Season 5 and is AU

John spent years being tortured in hell yet still he did not relent and lower himself to torture another, no matter what Alistair said to him, or the new and creative ways he tortured him. All john could think about was being reunited with Mary and looking down on his sons from heaven, for he was sure that was where she was and it was all that kept him going, stopping him from giving in and no matter what Alistair told him or even showed him, he held onto that thought. THEY WOULD NOT BREAK HIM. Then it happened, the gates of hell opened, he saw his chance to get out of hell and he took it. He was shocked to find Sam and Dean and even more so, Azazel. But everything seemed to turn out well. He was able to distract Azazel enough for Sam to shoot him with the colt and then he was then engulfed in a white light. He had ensured his sons safety, at least for the time being and he was then, he was sure going to be with Mary. Or that's what he thought.

A house newly decorated and fixed up, yet oddly familiar. Looking around, he realized it was his house, Sam and Dean's first home and the house that his wife, Mary died. He did not know why he was still there but even entering Sam's room, which was where it took place, cut John like a knife. He took one look at the room – no signs of fire damage and set up once again for a young person to live in and then he went downstairs and attempted to leave. He reached for the door handle, but his hand failed to grasp it. He tried walking through the door, but was just rebounded back. It seemed that he was somehow attached to the house, like some part of him was connected to the place. He sighed, thinking of it as another form of torture. Yet it was better than hell, not by much but it was, so long as no hunter came along to try and try and send him back to hell. Or send him up to heaven, but he could not be sure which way he would go now and he did not want to take that chance.

During his time in the house, he had a couple of families move in and then leave. He spent most of his time finding out what he could and could not do in his ghost form when the people living there were out, or when the house was vacant and watching the news whenever the people had the TV on in the house, looking for something, anything that sounded even remotely supernatural. He found that he could, with a lot of concentration touch and move things and with even more concentration, possess inanimate objects. The last family that were in the house were big horror movie buffs and John took note from that, although there was no way he was ever intending using any of it, he was trying to keep a low profile after all, but being a ghost that did not haunt or interact with anyone was so goddamn boring.

Then it was that time again for a new family to move in. They seemed to be the typical atomic family, two parents, a teenage girl, a boy and an even younger girl all laughing and messing about as they helped to move things into the house along with the removal guys.

"Great." he said as he watching them out of the window. His jaw almost hit the floor as he looked down and realized that the young blond girl was looking directly at him, too which was strange as he had worked hard at making sure no one could see or even know of his presence...

Gabriel had been enjoying himself lately with pulling mortals into horror movies. What really amused him was the fact that humans LIKED to be scared. They would go out of their way to go on scary amusement park rides or even haunted houses for the pure adrenaline rush. It seemed the closer to death they came the more they liked it. Scaring someone so badly that they either fell out of a chair or wet themselves seemed to delight them. It was as if they didn't fear the angel of Death if he came to call. However those instances of wanting to be scared were not real life situations. In other wards there was no real danger involved. Oh sure there was always a chance that a rollercoaster would malfunction with something like a bar flying up going down a hill or something but in most cases there was little or no danger of impending death. But would they actually laugh if they met the angel of Death? Or would they think it was so amusing if the scenario from one of their favorite horror movies could actually kill them?

He knew the story of John Winchester just like every other angel did. How he had lost his wife in a terrible fire at the hands of the demon Azazel and later became a hunter taking his sons with him. He had trained his sons in the hunter lifestyle while trying to track down the demon that had taken his wife. Much like Gabriel's heavenly father he was considered a dead beat dad who had abandoned his children without word. He practiced what some humans called tough love and it was something that his sons learned all too well. Not much emotion was expressed between father and sons which made for an interesting childhood for the brothers. He had tried to reconcile with Sam and Dean after they had been reunited but it had been anything but easy. They had finally decided that they were the strongest as a family instead of separate and so went after Azazel together. Unfortunately in the end they were in a terrible accident in which Dean was put into a coma and John made a bargain with Azazel to give his soul in return for the life of his son. However it showed that a father could make the ultimate sacrifice for his child.

John had been trapped in Hell because of his deal with Azazel but then had escaped when Hell's Gate was opened. He had helped his sons kill Azazel and then had disappeared. Still being dead John was considered to be in limbo and since he had some unfinished business was forced to roam the Earth as a ghost. He would remain in this state until he was deemed ready to enter Heaven. Of course the angels were too busy with their plans on having the battle happen between Lucifer and Michael to care about such a petty thing. And besides they were more interested in John Winchester's sons anyway. It was true that if Gabriel truly wished it he could bring John Winchester back from the land of the dead but he had chosen not to. Besides….where was the fun in that? Not to mention if he performed such a blatant act someone from Heaven would notice and the last thing he wanted to do was draw unnecessary attention to him since he had been maintaining a low profile for so long. So he decided that John Winchester would be drawn into his latest game.

And the horror movie he had chosen? Well what better movie for a ghost to be in than Poltergeist? It was almost too easy. Normally Gabriel would choose mortals for his games but it was just too easy of an opportunity to pass up. After all John had been wandering about as a ghost for years now. That had to become rather boring after a while wouldn't it? So, he decided to give some of that excitement to John. With a snap of his fingers he pulled him into his pocket universe but to a point where he wouldn't be suspicious as he created the family house that he had been haunting. It was the cast that would make the difference in this however.

"Mommy," the little blond girl replied as she looked up at the window. "There's a strange man in the window."

The mother walked up and tilted her head toward the window and saw nothing. "Oh sweetie you're just seeing things. There's no one there. You're just tired from the move." She placed her hand on her forehead. "Why don't we get you inside and make you a nice sandwich. Would you like that?" She watched as the girl nodded and then smiled before placing her hand on her back and leading her inside.

"Is this place great or what?" the father replied as he gestured in the living room. "It's nice not to see wallpaper peeling off the walls for once. Working all those overtime hours made this all worth it." He watched as his son came running by and dove over the couch. "Hey whoa easy there sport! No running in here ok?"

"But Cobra forces were after me, dad! And they can't get the secret formula!"

The father leaned in toward his son. "They are huh?" He looked around and then back at him. "Well….maybe if you went outside and hid in a bush they would be less likely to find you." He grinned as the boy nodded and then rolled on the floor before getting up and running outside. He then headed toward the kitchen where he saw his wife putting bagels in the toaster. "So….what's for lunch?"

"Well, since we haven't had a chance to do some real grocery shopping yet thought I would make us a toasted bagel sandwich."

"Mommy, something's wrong with the toaster," the little girl replied as she looked at it. "It's burning and smoky…."

The mother glanced at the toaster and laughed. "Oh sweetie there is nothing wrong with the toaster. See it…." Her eyes then widened as the outlet began to spark and the toaster began to smoke before catching on fire. "Oh my god!"

I'm on it!" the father yelled as he quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the fire. He studied the outlet. "What the hell was that? Faulty wiring? It can't be this place went through inspection." He glanced at his daughter. "How did you know this was going to happen?"

"The voice in my head told me. He said he wanted to show me how he could make fire."

The mother looked at the father uneasily. "I'm thinking some take out might be a better option for lunch right now."

"Yeah," the father replied as he looked at the remains of the toaster. "I think you're right."

As the father left the kitchen the mother glanced at her daughter. What did she mean the voice in her head told her? Surely this was just some imaginary friend thing? But then the toaster HAD burst in flames just like she said it would. Now she wasn't sure what to think. She decided for the time being not to speak to her daughter about it and just hoped it was some kind of fluke. 


	2. An Angel With A Mission

This Family was interesting, for sure, John thought, although he would do the usual – hang about the house invisible to them, watching the news when he could and assuming, as first impressions told him, that this was a happy family, watch how a proper family would work. A family that didn't have its mother ripped away from them by a demon. A family whose father did not become obsessed by said demon, leaving his oldest son to protect and look after the youngest. A family he was never destined to have. He would, it seemed, have to be careful about the young girl who seemed to be able to see him. Although it would be nice to have some form of contact with another person, even if it was a child. He walked down the stairs, or floated; it still felt like walking to him and watched the family interact with each other. The family was, as he feared seemingly happy. A young boy pretending to be GI Joe, a young boy with no worries in the world pretending to be in the army perhaps like his dad was, was exactly how Dean should have been.

Then there was the eldest girl, in the corner on her laptop doing school work, not interacting much with the family, but seemingly happy in what she was doing. Sam always liked doing school work; he was definitely the brains of the family.

Then there was commotion in the kitchen and John went in there to investigate. He caught a good portion of what was said, enough to know that apparently someone told the young girl it would happen. Was there another ghost there conversing with her? No, surely John would know about that. He watched the flames lick at the toaster before it was put out. Just like the flames tortured Mary when she died. He looked again at the girl. Someone talking to her? It certainly sounded like it was in the realms of the supernatural. If it wasn't a ghost, perhaps a demon? But they normally had control of the victim. This girl really seemed to be special. A quick glance and a glow of yellow in the girl's eyes was all it took for John to register what was going on here.

"Azazel!" John growled towards the girl. You will NOT destroy this family like you did mine!" he yelled, not that anyone other than the girl could hear him.

"Azzzel?" the girl recited her childish tongue unable to pronounce the name.

"I'm sorry dear?" her mother said. "Oh Sam, please come and get your sister, the smoke is not doing her any good!' John span round, for a split second expecting to see his Sam, he did not know why because his Sam did not have a little sister, to his knowledge. But he was of course mistaken as the teenage girl he saw earlier walked into the room.

"Come on, Kelly-Anne' Sam said, going into the kitchen and taking her sister by the hand and leading her away from the kitchen. At least who she thought was her sister anyway. Was Azazel actually pretending to be a child just to mess with this family? Maybe the reason they were all nice and happy was because they had to be, through fear of what their daughter might do? Either way, this family needed rescuing and right then, John was their only hope. But how would he do it? One wrong move would cause them all to leave the house where John could not follow and leave the family condemned to their fate. He would have to bide his time, until such a time as to get the girl on her own and somehow attack her then.

He waited until the dead of the night and then went into her room, feeling sure that Azazel would be there waiting for him. As it happened the room was empty. Leaving the room he then walked into the master bedroom, where he found the girl knelt down watching the TV. It was some sort of comedic talk show that was on, a strange one as it happened. The guest was not someone he recognized – what seemed like a nerd in a trench coat looking completely out of place seemingly oblivious to what everyone was laughing at. As soon as John approached the TV, it turned to static.

"Azazel, I warn you now, get out of the girl or I will slaughter you!" he growled, reluctant to hurt the little girl, but he knew full well he had to look past the body he inhabited and to what she truly was. A demon that would kill many more people if allowed to live.

"The girl looked up at him, seemingly unaware of what he said, just reaching out towards him."

"You stay away from me, demon scum!" John said, looking from her then toward the TV. OK, it worked in some movie he saw with the horror film junkies, why couldn't it work for him? Maybe he could communicate with her better through the TV, although he did not know how. He was able to possess other inanimate objects before and he guessed that this would be a lot like doing that. He walked into the TV and concentrated, trying to use the TV, attach his voice to the TV's speakers. It took him a few attempts, but finally he managed it.

"Azazel, I do not know what you are up to, just know that John Winchester is here. I once promised that I would not just send you back to hell but KILL you dead. If I do not succeed here, know that my Sons will. The Winchesters WILL get their revenge!"

Kelly-Anne stared at the TV set, seemingly taking more in now than she did when John spoke to her in ghost form.

"Kelly-Anne, dear." the mother said, getting up. "Why are you watching the static, it's bad for your eyes?"

"They're heeeere." Kelly-Anne said.

IC: Ever since Lucifer had been released from his cage Castiel had been thinking of everything he could to try and stop The Apocalypse. First there had been the hope of finding Lucifer before he chose his vessel which had not worked unfortunately. And now it was just to find Lucifer in general. He was determined just like Sam and Dean that the events that had been put into motion could be stopped. They would need all the help that they could get and needed someone with knowledge of how to track down something like Lucifer. For even though Castiel was an angel it didn't mean that he knew exactly where to find him and some of his powers had also been cut from Heaven as well. No, they needed a hunter who knew things inside and out and the one who fit that requirement perfectly was John Winchester. The only problem was that he was dead. If he was in Hell there was no way that Castiel could retrieve his soul with all the demons on his tail now. And if John was in Heaven he could not go there either because of the angel bounty on his head.

However Castiel soon learned through supernatural channels that John's soul was actually in limbo and therefore a ghost. This meant that Castiel could easily retrieve his soul and bring him back to the land of the living. He knew that bringing John Winchester back would also give inspiration to Sam and Dean to keep trying to stop the end of days. Not to mention the three Winchesters would make a formidable combination against Lucifer and his demons. Did Castiel expect some gratitude from completing such a task? No, of course not. Just finding Lucifer and putting an end to The Apocalypse would be enough. Now he would just have to hope that the particular power that allowed him to bring a soul back into the land of the living was still there. And if it wasn't? Well, he wasn't going to think about that at the moment and would deal with that situation if it arose. Right now he just wanted to find John Winchester's soul in the first place which could be like finding a needle in a haystack. He was trying to do it secretly because that way Dean or Sam couldn't talk him out of it because in a way it was dangerous.

Castiel had managed to hone in on John's soul so to speak but then it had disappeared. How was that possible? Had Heaven suddenly deemed where it should go? How could that be after three years? No something just wasn't right. As he got closer he suddenly found himself outside of a house. And as he looked at it realized that it was the home of Sam and Dean in Lawrence, Kansas. Did that mean that John was haunting it? Well, he supposed that could be a possibility. The one thing he knew was that he could not just show up in this house or it would just create more chaos. Besides he didn't want to communicate to the family anyway just John. As he started to concentrate there was a quick flash of light and before he knew it he found himself on some kind of talk show stage. Glancing around him he saw people in an audience staring at him while laughing and pointing. How the hell had he gotten here? The look on his face was of absolute confusion. But then as he looked out he saw a face….John?

It was then that Castiel realized that he was in a television! Now what kind of power could have done that to him? His first thought was to try and speak to John at least but the minute that he started to try and do that the front of the screen disappeared. Everything around him went quiet as he realized he was the only one on the stage now. He then heard some kind of laughter that appeared to be coming from thin air. Glancing around he tried to find the source of it.

"Who are you?" he asked in a gruff voice. "I demand that you make yourself known to me!"

Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle to himself about the little scenario that he had set up. Oh sure it was based on a horror movie but he had also added his own little quirks to it. After all this is what John Winchester was supposed to experience so he had carefully chosen his personalities and in one case his names carefully. When he chose his victims he made certain that whatever situation he placed them it was something they could relate to. Why? Well because that was what made it fun of course. And it wasn't as if he was just creating these things completely on his own. His victims provided him the background he needed to fill in the missing pieces. In the case of John he had made the son of the family to remind him of Dean and how he wanted to be like his father. But unlike the strained relationship between him and Dean this father/son relationship was close and loving. And of course the older daughter had the same nickname as Sam and was like the female version of him. He knew how much it would pain John to see this could have been his family but that was really the point.

Everything was starting to fall into place when a sudden monkey wrench was thrown into the mix. It shouldn't have surprised him really for eventually he was going to have a run in with the infamous angel who had rebelled against Heaven and was aiding Sam and Dean Winchester. It had just been a matter of time but that didn't mean that he wanted it to happen that soon. So Castiel had come in search of John Winchester's soul? Well now he just couldn't allow him to take away his fun now could he? He wasn't responsible for who entered his domain and whoever did would have to play by his rules. Gabriel was fairly certain that Castiel did not know his true identity and he planned to keep it that way. With a snap of his fingers he had pulled him into a television and quickly made it become static when Castiel had tried to speak to John. As he heard Castiel's anger coming out as he looked around trying to decipher what was happening he let out a laugh.

"Show myself to you?" Gabriel's voice replied back. "Hmmm let me think about it for a minute. Uhhhh…..no. And besides that would take all the fun out of the game. You step into my realm then you have to play by my rules and assume the consequences. And besides…. YOU….were not invited." Standing in the shadows he then snapped his fingers and Castiel disappeared once again. "Hmmm….now where was I? Ah yes! The demon child…." With another snap of his fingers he was out of the television and back into the house. He looked outside at the darkness and moon. "Hmmm….I think it's time for a little change of scene here." With a gesture of his hand he produced a scene clapper. "John Winchester's Hell scene change." Bringing the clapper down the scene outside became daylight and then with a smirk Gabriel disappeared.

The mother was in the kitchen preparing some breakfast when the youngest daughter took a seat at the table. "Uh sweetie, do you remember when you said they're here last night?"

"Uh huh,"Kelly-Anne replied as she went to take a drink of her milk.

"Well….who did you mean? Who is here?"

The TV people," Kelly-Anne replied with a warm smile. "They were talking to me through the TV."

"I see," the mother replied as she turned around and picked up a plate before heading to the kitchen table. "Here eat your pancakes sweetie. But remember that you shouldn't be so close to the television." Turning back around she gasped as she saw the bar stools around the counter stacked on top of each other. "Oh my…" She was pretty freaked out as she didn't remember the bar counter being there before in the first place but to see this? Her focus then went back to Kelly-Anne. "Did you say…..TV people?"

"Uh huh."

Can you see them?" the mother asked in a trembling voice.

"Uh-uh," Kelly-Anne answered as she looked back at her mother and shook her head slowly. "Can you?"

The mother shook her head quickly. "Uh-uh." She then picked up Kelly-Anne and practically ran out of the kitchen.


	3. Care to Tango With The Trickster?

OK, he had made first contact with the demon; it now knew he was onto him. Did that help him? Well no, idle threats would do nothing to hurt the demon, and it could cause the demon either to become more crafty, or move its plans along more quickly. Or, as John was hoping, it could simply not care about his existence, considering him to be no threat. Once everything had settled down and everyone seemed to be asleep, John wondered what to do next. Should he practice using his ghostly matters some more? Sleep? Do ghosts even sleep? He guessed not. Then all of a sudden it was daylight and the mother and father that was sleeping in the bed alongside who they thought was their daughter, were now gone, with the bed made up.

Weird. Maybe that was how ghosts 'slept' they would just flash forward? Or there was something completely different going on here. Either way, he would get to the bottom of this, eventually. He made his way back downstairs, to the sitting room, where the mother was on the sofa, seemingly worried and possibly a little scared, cuddling Kelly-Anne, who seemed a lot calmer.

"TV people!" Kelly-Anne said. John did not know why she said this and the mother kept glancing nervously towards the kitchen, so John chose to investigate. Going in to the kitchen, he found a load of chairs stacked strangely on top of each other in a way he didn't think possible.

"You have a good sleep Bobby?" The mother asked the youngest boy as he came down.

"I hate that tree!" Bobby protested. "It made scary shadows through the curtains!"

"Don't be such a scaredy cat, wimp." Sam said, pushing her way past him. "And what's with the chairs? Is that supposed to be art?" She asked, standing in the kitchen doorway. John meant to lean against the chairs, but instead passed through them, somehow knocking them over as he did so, sending them crashing everywhere, with Sam taking a few steps back for cover. "Mum, what's going on?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, Darling. Would you keep an eye on the kids for a moment? I'm going to ring your father..." The mother left the room, leaving Sam and the two kids..and John who chose to use this moment to try out something he had seen many times on TV. He walked towards Sam, straight into her body, attempting to control her. Sam's eyes glazed over so that they were now white. It was hard and it took all Johns concentration and determination just to gain control of her body.

"You...Demon...I...Will...destroy you..." Speech was hard talking through her, but moving her was a lot easier. She walked towards Kelly-Anne, arms outstretched like a zombie only without the drooling and groaning. Slowly he placed her hands around Kelly-Anne's neck.

"Mom!" Bobby shouted. The mother came rushing in.

"Sam, what are you doing?" she yelled. John could not squeeze hard enough with Sam's hands and barely hurt the girl. Whether it was the lack of control he had over Sam, whether Sam was fighting against him or whether Kelly-Anne was too strong for him, which being a demon she probably would be, he didn't know and he was soon ejected from her body.

"This is going to be even harder than I thought." he commented, watching the family as they were arguing and panicking.

When Castiel had set out to retrieve the soul of John Winchester he had thought that the hardest part would be to find it. After all he was somewhat limited in his powers since he had been resurrected. However he was confident that once his soul was found that he would be able to restore John Winchester back to the land of the living. But it would appear that now he had some other kind of obstacle that he had to face. Some unknown power knew that he had come for John Winchester and was trying to prevent him from achieving his goal. And it was a power that Castiel had never experienced before. No, this was something more than a demon or other supernatural creature. After all he had been placed inside of a television of all things! However whereas whoever this was thought it was funny Castiel was not amused in the least. Not that he was known to have a sense of humor in the first place. But as far as Castiel was concerned he didn't have time to play whatever this game was. Not when the fate of the planet was at stake.

Whatever this power was that was manipulating Castiel had proven that it was a coward by choosing not to reveal itself. But at the same time it had also shown that it was not afraid of an angel either. Of course the question remained did this power know what Castiel was? There was always that possibility which would be why it had shown no fear. After being in the television there had been another flash of light and Castiel found himself in another room. As he glanced around there was a sudden appearance of colored lights and a group of scantily clad women dancing seductively. Now for any normal male this would be something that would excite or bring them comfort. But Castiel neither was not exactly normal nor was he a mortal male. And right now he really wished that he was back being humiliated by that television audience. He took a swallow and nervously backed up as the women slowly approached him. Castiel was having a flashback to when he had gone to a brothel with Dean which had been a less than pleasant experience. Normally he would have just been able to teleport out of a situation like this but it was not working.

Closing his eyes he tried to shut out the giggling and laughter of the women as they caressed him. Someone like Dean would have been indulging in this experience but to Castiel it was just a distraction from his original goal. He just knew that he had to get out of here and get to John before something else happened. Taking a breath he started to chant something in Enochian and suddenly he no longer felt the women's hands on his body. Opening one eye he could see that the women had disappeared and that he was now in another room. As he started to focus he could see that the peaceful family that he had observed earlier was now fighting. This was actually the distraction Castiel needed to try and speak to John. He wasn't sure if the family could see him or not but he couldn't worry about that now.

"John Winchester?" Castiel replied as he looked at John. "My name is Castiel and I am here to help you." He took a step forward. "You must listen to me. I am an ally to your sons and have ventured to this place to bring you back…to restore your soul to the land of the living so that you might…aide in the battle against Lucifer. But… some kind of power has been able to trap your soul here. I…do not understand how this is possible but… it is something that even rivals my own power. You must..."

There was a sudden flash of light and Castiel disappeared right before John's eyes. In his place was a stuffed clown on the carpet wearing a trench coat complete with a painted face.

Gabriel didn't know who he was having more fun playing with…John or Castiel. Oh sure it was fun creating this whole family scenario and having John believing that he was battling his old demon buddy Azazel. He knew that it wouldn't take much to stir up those negative emotions with John Winchester. Even if he was a ghost he still had been a mortal once and they were all the same. His manipulations were working out precisely as he wished. Of course he knew that Castiel would be an entirely different situation after all he was an angel and had his own powers for defense. But Gabriel did have the upper hand in that he was an archangel with even more abilities. Granted Castiel didn't know this which gave him an advantage. Because if Castiel DID find out that he was dealing with an archangel then he would know how to draw him out and that was something that Gabriel definitely did NOT want to happen. He couldn't help it if he was enjoying his time down on Earth and didn't want it to end! Or…at least he planned on having his fun until the planet burned.

Of course the trick was that even if Castiel discovered his secret he would have to find a way out of where he was now. Teleporting the angel into the television and then taunting him from the shadows had given him great delight. But then moving him to the room with the strippers? Oh that had been just too much. The thing was he knew that Castiel was uncomfortable in that kind of situation which is why he had conjured it up. At least it offered him a distraction while Gabriel continued with his scene with John. Besides the nerdy little angel really needed to loosen up anyway. Hell, Castiel might even end up thanking him in the end. But then his focus went back to John and he had laughed hysterically when he saw him jump into Sam and try and speak. Just who did he think he was dealing with here? But then he had another little surprise dumped on him as Castiel once again appeared out of thin air. How the hell had he gotten out of that room? It would appear that he had underestimated the angel and would not make that same mistake twice.

"_Oh what do you think you are doing, Castiel? You think you can just pop in here unannounced and ruin my fun? I don't think so. Talking to John? Oooooh…NOT a good idea. I was trying to be nice earlier so don't think you didn't have this coming. Now let's see…..what possible humiliation can I give you as punishment?"_A smirk suddenly crossed his face. "_Oh I am good._" With a snap of Gabriel's fingers Castiel instantly transformed into a stuffed clown. "_Now maybe you can lighten up a bit and pull that stick out your ass with that smile plastered on your white face. Oh and play your cards right or I will make you a dog chew toy._" Conjuring up a chair he sat in it and with a gesture of his hand produced a box of popcorn and a candy bar. "_Now….back to the movie._" He then disappeared into thin air again as he took a bite of the candy bar.

Kelly-Anne was watching Samantha and her mother fight when he she looked down at the floor and saw the stuffed clown. Walking over to it she picked it up and dragging it by the arm walked toward her mother. "Mommy! Look what I found! A clown!"

The mother stared at the stuffed clown and gave a strange look. "What a strange looking clown. Never saw one with a….trench coat on before."

"Can I keep it please?" Kelly-Anne asked in an excited voice as she hugged the stuffed clown tightly. "I promise to take care of him!"

The mother was still confused at what had taken place between Samantha and Kelly-Anne. Why had she been trying to strangle her? But strangely enough Kelly-Anne appeared to be unaffected from the trauma. Maybe this clown would help her to forget about it? Even if it was one of the strangest stuffed clowns she had ever seen. "Of course you can keep it, sweetie." She replied with a warm smile. "Why don't you go upstairs and I'll draw your bath for you ok?"

"Yay!" Kelly-Anne replied before giving the stuffed clown another hug and then dragging it by the arm up the stairs.

"Bobby, why don't you go upstairs with Kelly-Anne?" The mother then waited until he was gone and looked toward Samantha. "Sam, I want you to tell me why I saw you trying to strangle your sister."

"I…I don't know, Mom." Samantha replied back as she trembled. "I….I just remember that I got really cold and…" She looked back at her mother with pleading eyes. "Mom, you have to believe me that I would NEVER do anything to hurt Kelly-Anne."

The mother sighed before embracing Samantha. "I know you wouldn't."

"Mom, what….what is happening to us?" Samantha asked tearfully as she turned her head and rested it on her mother's shoulder.

"I don't know, Sam," the mother replied as she caressed her older daughter's hair. "I….I just don't know."


	4. Mrs Chuckles?

Attempting to control someone, John learned, took an incredible amount of energy and it wasn't like he could eat a chocolate bar to give himself a little boost, considering he was a ghost. He just watched the family, in particular Kelly-Anne who, as usual, remained calm through everything. Then that guy with the trench coat appeared again and talked to him.

"Ally of my sons? Are they OK? Hey no wait!" John said as the guy disappeared with a clown in a trench coat appearing in his place. What the hell was going on here? Something more powerful than this Castiel character was keeping his soul there? Castiel, Castiel that name definitely rang a bell, he just could not place it. So what could it be that was keeping him here? Some of the more powerful demons could use mind control, but this sort of thing was beyond them, he thought. There was one likely candidate that was powerful enough to keep him there and manipulate his surroundings, but he had not seen any sweet wrappers lying about so far, but there was one thing for sure – he needed to be extra vigilant from now on.

John's gaze fell back to Kelly-Anne. Any other child her age would be freaking out, but she was not any other child, John knew that. When they were sent upstairs, John followed them.

"You stay there, Mrs. Chuckles and be good while mummy has a bath." Kelly-Anne said, placing the clown down alongside her other dolls.

"Clowns are always boys, everyone knows that!" Bobby protested, standing by the doorway.

"Not Mrs. Chuckles, she's special. She's the world's first girl clown!" Kelly-Anne said, causing Bobby to walk off muttering something under his breath.

John walked out of Kelly-Anne's room and walked into Bobby's room. He was playing with little green army figures. In fact his whole room was decorated in an army fashion – Army colored Duvet and pillow covers, toy tanks, and toy soldiers and along with them a few cuddly toys - a fierce looking lion, a tyrannosaurus Rex and a cute looking penguin, who had a yellow and blue bobble hat and scarf. Looking out of the window, John saw it change from daytime to nighttime in a split second. Strange, was this what it was like for ghosts? John had hunted ghosts before, destroyed what was keeping them there and rescued people from them, but being a ghost was a lot different and for all he knew time may work differently in this plane of existence. He could not fail to ignore his instincts, which were now telling him he was being manipulated somehow.

As John turned round he found that the clown had somehow made it into Bobby's room, and it was sat on a chair facing his bed, alongside the lion, dinosaur and penguin. The weather was not particularly good outside, with thunder and lightning. Bobby was wide awake, his covers covering half of his face and was staring at the clown, whose face seemed to light up as the room did with the lightening. Crawling bravely to the end of his bed, Bobby nervously batted the clowns head, knocking it to the floor, before scurrying back under his covers. His bedroom door opened and Kelly-Anne creeped in, picking up the clown.

"You're mean Bobby!" She said. "Come on, Mrs. Chuckles I'll take care of you." Kelly-Anne said, dragging the clown away.

"Pingu's gunna get you!" a voice came from behind her. She turned round to find the penguin jumping from the chair and onto the bed, and pecked every part of Bobby it could find. It was a stuffed toy, it could not really hurt the child that much with its stuffed beak, but it had now somehow managed to be able to attack Bobby's eyes. Bobby screamed in terror, trying to bat it off, but the penguin seemed determined and no matter how many times he got knocked away, he came back for more. Kelly-Anne just froze to her spot, cuddling the clown, her mouth open. John tried grabbing hold of the penguin, but it was to no avail, he could make only minimal contact on the bird; He looked around the room, thinking, his eyes resting on the lion. He had tried possessing toys before. It was an uncomfortable experience, but he could do it. He stood near the lion and concentrated on being the lion, and soon enough he was, although it felt like being inside an enclosed space that was too small for him to fit properly. As the lion, he too jumped onto the bed and pounced on the penguin, his plastic teeth ripping the bird apart, stuffing going everywhere. Leaving the lion, he looked at the girl, then around him. Was this Azazel using the girl to attack the family? Or was this something else completely messing with them all? He couldn't help but think this was way too freaky, even for a demon.

"Look, Trickster, if that's what you are! I will find you, and when I do I will bust your ass!" John growled into thin air. No one messed like this with John Winchester.

"The TV people are angry." Kelly-Anne said, pointing at him.

It was amusing enough that Gabriel had turned Castiel into a stuffed clown but to humiliate him even more by giving him a female name like Mrs. Chuckles? Oh that was just too much! But how could he help it if the angel was making it so easy? It wasn't as if he feared Castiel or anything. What was he going to do tell daddy? Yeah, daddy didn't give a rats ass about what Gabriel was doing otherwise he would have tried to interfere a long time ago. And it wasn't as if Castiel could tell Heaven because he was considered a fugitive for helping the Winchesters and siding with the humans in general. That meant that Gabriel had free reign to do whatever he wished to the trench coated angel. Could he kill him? Of course he could he was an archangel. Would he? Most likely no because Castiel was still a brother and considered part of his angelic family. But if it was him or Castiel then he would have no choice. Unlike his other brothers Gabriel did not like confrontations which were the reason he had descended to Earth in the first place.

"_Mrs. Chuckles? Oh this is just priceless._" He glanced toward a stuffed penguin. "_Never trust a penguin wearing a hat or scarf. I think it's time to turn up the heat a bit._" Looking toward the window he snapped his fingers and the sky darkened followed by the rumble of thunder. "_Hmmm…needs something more dramatic._" He snapped his fingers again which produced a huge bolt of lightning. "_Oooh…nice. Now a little bit more thunder and….._" There was a huge rumble of thunder which practically shook the house. "_Bingo!_" The theme to _I Dream of Jeannie _could then be heard as he started to sway his hips and started to dance before slowly raise his arms above his head. He then crossed his arms and nodded his head before disappearing.

The lightning that played off the face of Castiel as the stuffed clown was the perfect scare tactic for Bobby. Even though people said that children liked clowns Bobby did not share that particular trademark. When he had pushed the stuffed clown to the floor after hitting it in the head he thought it was over. But as he was attacked by a stuffed penguin he began to wonder if it was retaliation for what he had done to the clown. And it almost looked like Kelly-Anne was the one who had somehow caused it. He was surprised as the stuffed lion suddenly came to life and began attacking the penguin. How was this possible? He had not even hesitated to call out for his mother in midst of the chaos which brought her almost running immediately.

"Bobby?" the mother replied as she stepped into the room. Her eyes then fell upon all the stuffing lying on the floor. "What happened?" She then looked at Kelly-Anne. "What do you mean the TV People are angry, sweetheart?"

"The stuffed penguin attacked me!" Bobby replied as he pointed to the remains of it on the floor. "But…the lion saved me." He then ran to his mother and hugged her tightly. "Mom, I'm scared!"

"Ssssh….sssh, it's ok honey," the mother replied as she rubbed Bobby's back and tried to calm him. She then turned her head toward Bobby's television.

Had John just called him Trickster? So it would appear that the famous hunter John Winchester was living up to his reputation. Now part of him was wondering if perhaps John had come close to tracking him down a few times. Nah…he would have remembered such a thing. Of course this was all just a part of the game that he was setting up. Now it was time to add some more fuel to the fire. The television that the mother was looking at suddenly turned on and a commercial began to play. It showed various images having to do with ghosts and the paranormal followed by a voice over.

"Are you experiencing strange events in your home? Feel cold spots? Afraid to venture into your basement or attic? Feel like there is no place to turn? Then don't waste another minute and call someone who can help….Trickloki Investigations. Our people are specially trained and with the latest technological equipment and will rid your home of things that go bump in the night. All of our client information is strictly confidential so call us now to set up an appointment. Phones are open 24 hours so call now! Must be over 18 to call and deposits for jobs are non-refundable. Investigations and results are not guaranteed."

"That's it," the mother whispered as she looked at the screen and memorized the phone number in her head. "Come on, let's go downstairs and meet your father." She then led Bobby out of the room and looked at Kelly-Anne. "You too sweetie."

Kelly-Anne headed out after her mother and was not aware that she had dropped the stuffed clown. As the stuffed clown lay on the floor the family dog came wandering into the room. It looked at the clown strangely before sniffing at it and then lifting its leg. It then picked it up by the arm and thrashing it around in its powerful jaws. After a few more shakes it then headed out of the room with Mrs. Chuckles in its mouth.


	5. Enter The Two Chuckleheads

Things at the house went from weird to strange to almost complete madness. First the penguin attack, which John had helped rescue the boy from and then the TV switched itself on to reveal a commercial for some kind of ghost busting operation, something the mother seemed to think was a good idea. John had seen many of these types of outfits in his time and very few of them were actually any good. Most of them were either con artists or kids who did not know what they were doing, or what they were potentially getting themselves into. Was this the sort of thing a trickster would do? Set some ghost buster type people on to the very person who was trying to protect the family, if the family was even real? Yes it was and all that was really missing was the tell tale candy wrappers.

A growling sound pulled John out of his thoughts. There was the familiar stuffed clown in the trench coat being ripped to pieces by the dog. That clown could have been the person that was there earlier trying to help him and this was what the poor guy had got for his efforts.

"Easy boy." John said, moving closer to the dog to make an attempt at getting the clown from him, but the dog decided at that point to run out of the room, dragging the unfortunate clown with him. John followed him right down into the kitchen where there was a lot of screaming going on.

"Mom! Look what he's doing to Mrs. Chuckles! Let her go Buster! Let her go!" Kelly Anne screamed trying to tug the clown doll out of the jaws of the dog. The Father was on the phone, to Trickloki Investigations it seemed, while the mother was still consoling a shaken up Bobby.

"Buster, here!" The mom said, showing Buster a doggy treat. The dog dropped the Clown for the doggy treats, allowing Kelly-Anne to get the clown back, but she dropped it almost instantly.

"Ewww she's smelly! I think she wet herself!" she exclaimed.

"She..wha..?... Buster!" the mom said to the dog. "Bad Boy!" she said, letting him out at the back door. "It's OK sweetie, I'll just have to put her in the wash, and get the needle and thread out later. Mrs. Chuckles will be as good as new in no time."

"No, no, she's dead now. Buster killed her!" Kelly Anne said in a strop.

"No, your mother will fix her; she's a miracle worker hunnie." The Dad said, smiling warmly, but Kelly-Anne was still sulking. It was at that point that there was a knock at the door.

"You want to get that dear, while I sort the kids?" the mum asked. Just as the dad left the kitchen, the phone rang.

"OK I'll get the door; you get the phone as it's probably your work calling anyway." The mother said, going to the door along with the two children. This left John alone with the clown. He reached down and mustered up all his concentration and picked up the clown doll.

"Hey! Are you in there? Are you alright?" John said, finding it a little weird talking to a stuffed clown, but this was turning out to be a very weird day.

Samantha had heard all the commotion that had taken place in the other room but had tried to ignore it. It wasn't unusual for her younger brother and sister to have disagreements particularly when it came to toys. Besides she had some homework to work on before the night was over. Shrugging her shoulders as everyone else went downstairs she went back to her desktop where she was typing out an essay on her Microsoft word. As she looked back up at the screen she watched as it flashed and then went blank.

"Oh are you kidding me?" She let out a sigh and started pushing buttons on her computer. "Come on, I've been working on that essay for an hour!" Jumping back in her chair she then watched as the monitor came back on and revealed a pixilated face. "What the…" She watched as the face faded in and out as it tried to speak. "Who…are you? Cas…Castiel? What….are you doing in my computer?" She leaned toward the screen. "Power? What kind of power? What are you talking about? What about my family being in danger?" There was a high pitched noise and the screen then went blank again. "Hello? Hello?"

The father was on the phone with his workplace which was the last call he wanted to be on at that moment. "Look, Paul I know that is an important decision but I have been working on that project all day. Yeah, I turned off my cell phone because I wanted a friggin' break! No one is going to be checking that until tomorrow anyway. I just want to spend the evening with my family all right? We've got…. things going on that we need to get through. What? Oh you know….things. Look, the bottom line is they need me here tonight."

"Dad?" Samantha replied as she stepped into the kitchen. "Dad, there is something strange going on with my computer."

The father put his hand over the receiver. "Give me just a few min, Sam."

"But Dad there was some strange face on my screen and it called itself Castiel." Samantha replied before waving him off. "Oh, never mind you won't believe me anyway." She then headed out of the kitchen and back toward the living room. Glancing down at the torn stuffed clown she raised an eyebrow before heading toward the door that her mother was opening. "Mom, there's something strange going on."

"You can say that again," replied a voice on the other side of the door. The door then completely opened to reveal Gabriel standing there with his arms folded. He then produced a business card and handed it to the mother. "Trickloki Investigations at your service. Mrs. Freeman isn't it?"

"Uhhh…yes," the mother replied back with a confused look. "But….I didn't expect you to be here so quickly."

"Hmmm?" Gabriel replied before clasping his hands. "Oh, well when you…called us we just happened to be in the neighborhood. That happens sometimes." He gave a wicked smile and looked at Kelly-Anne. "And who is this cute little girl?"

"I don't like you!" Kelly-Anne replied back as she looked back at Gabriel. "You want to hurt Mrs. Chuckles! You are mean and want to hurt people!"

"Kelly-Anne!" the mother replied as she first looked sternly at her daughter who was now standing behind her and then back at Gabriel. "You'll have to excuse my daughter. She's….been going through some things lately. She didn't mean what she said Mr…."

"Oh, please just call me, Lucas," Gabriel replied back with a charming smile. He then produced a candy bar from his pocket and extended it toward Kelly-Anne. "Here you go, Kelly-Anne. Come on now….little girls can never resist chocolate now." He watched as Kelly-Anne slowly walked forward and snatched the candy bar out of his hand before retreating back behind her mother. "That's a good little girl. She really is a sweet child. And don't worry I didn't take offense at all. I know how children can have active imaginations."

Samantha watched the interaction between Kelly-Anne and 'Lucas' before speaking to her mother again. "Mom, something really strange happened on my computer. I saw…" She then stopped as she got a strange feeling in her stomach and saw 'Lucas' was looking back at her. For some reason she just got the notion that she shouldn't say anything else in the presence of this man.

"What did you see?" the mother asked as she prepared to close the door.

"Yes," Gabriel replied as he raised an eyebrow at Samantha and looked deep into her eyes. "What did you see?"

"Nothing," Samantha replied as she took a swallow. "It…it was probably just a computer malfunction of some kind. I'm….sure its fine now." Clearing her throat she quickly moved away from 'Lucas' and his stare.

Gabriel couldn't help but smirk as he watched his intimidation effect on Samantha. "What a charming daughter you have, Mrs. Freeman." It would appear that she might need to be put in her place and he would indeed welcome that. There was no way that he was going to let a teenage mortal screw this up for him. As the door was preparing to close he put his hand up to stop it. "Did I mention that I have some assistants? Just give me a second." Stepping out of the doorway and view of everyone for a minute he snapped his fingers and two men suddenly appeared with devices in her their hands and complete with proton backpacks. He then moved back into view and opened the door gesturing to them. "These are my assistants, Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spangler."

It appeared to John that there was no life in the clown, it was just a puppet. It did look a little like the guy he was talking to earlier, and perhaps he was in there at one time, but it seemed now that he had escaped. That's assuming he could communicate with him in that state. Perhaps he was in there and just was unable to communicate with him in anyway. Either way, the end result was the same – he looked like a bit of a mug for trying to talk to a stuffed toy, if anyone could see him, and he was none the wiser about who this guy was, other than his name 'Castiel', which did sound familiar. He was sure he had read about him in a book somewhere, but as it was not to do with a demon or anything particularly evil, it was pushed to the back of his mind and he was struggling to retrieve that memory, which annoyed the hell out of him. Dropping the clown, he moved from the kitchen and went to the front door, where the majority of the family was talking to a guy, who it seemed worked for 'Trikloki Investigations'. The guy seemed strange and John did not trust him at all. Not that he trusted that many people anyway. Kelly-Anne seemed to share John's distrust and it was the offer of candy that clicked everything into place. This was the Trickster, he was sure of it. Not that he could do much about it right then, but he would work out some way of fighting him in that form, he had to. Then Sam came through and let slip something strange going on. John would have liked to know what she saw too. Maybe it was something to do with that Castiel? But the girl was right; it wasn't safe to talk about it in front of this guy.

It was just a normal day for Ed and Harry. A little work on their website, loading up some 'instructional video's' regarding the best ways to catch a ghost, according to them. Then a weird flash of light happened and they were in front of a house, with the front door open, and a guy introducing to a family.

"What the hell? What did you do Harry?"

"Me? I didn't do nothin! Maybe some ghost put a spell on us?" Harry said.

"Ghost's can't do spells, you idiot!"

"How do you know? They know we are onto them, with our videos and all the ghosts we faced...they are scared and are sure to try to get at us somehow. And what is it you're wearing, anyway? You look like a ghost bust...no way! I look like one too! I bagsy Venkman." Harry said.

"You can't just bagsy Venkman! Besides, with your surname Spangler, you're more suited to Egon. Spangler – Splengler you know. So I'm Venkman."

"Egon? You have got to be kidding me! He is the worst ghost buster apart from Winston! Anyway I called him first!" Harry said back. It then turned into a fight, which started with a few girly style slaps, which turned into them grappling with each other.

"Your name suits Egon!"

"I called Venkman first, dingbat!"

They then froze on the spot in the sudden realization that everyone was looking at them. They let go of each other, and then dusted themselves off.

"Hi, like the man said, I'm Ed, this is Harry. We are professional ghost hunters; you might have seen us on ghostfacers?" Ed said, holding out his hand.

"Errr...nice to meet you." The mother said, shaking Ed's and then Harry's hands a little reluctantly.

John just rolled his eyes at the whole scene. But he guessed better to have a couple of kids who didn't have a clue what they were doing than some proper hunters who would try and kill him. Again. It was at that point he realized the Trickster was looking right at him.

"Don't think I don't know what you are, jerk off!" John growled.

Picking on Ed and Harry and bringing them into John's little movie was the perfect plan to Gabriel. When John had called him out upstairs he knew that it was time to bring in the big guns so to speak. As far as Gabriel was concerned he was getting too close to the truth and he just couldn't have that. That was also the reason that the mighty Castiel was now reduced to a pitiful stuffed clown. The verdict was still out as to what he was going to do with Castiel but right now dealing with John was his top priority. He shouldn't have expected anything less from the man who was considered one of the best hunters out there. It wouldn't surprise him if he and Bobby had gotten together in the past to figure out that Gabriel was responsible for some cases out there. He had to respect him but….it meant he also had to kill him. As for Ed and Harry? Well they were always bragging about how good they were so now was the time for them to actually prove it. However that was not going to be accomplished if they were arguing.

"You'll have to excuse my assistants," Gabriel replied as he looked back at the mother. "They can be…eccentric at times but trust me in that they are completely harmless." He glared back at John and then grinned at his challenge. "Actually could you excuse me and my assistants for a few moments? We need to…prepare and brief ourselves before we begin. We won't be but a few minutes."

"Of…course," the mother replied as she took Kelly-Anne's hand gently and led her away. "Come on, Bobby…Sam…let's…go find your father."

Gabriel smiled as the mother and family members left but it soon faded as he turned to look at Ed and Harry. "All right you two chuckleheads listen up. I did not drag your sorry asses in here to make me look like some kind of chump. Now, you two are going to play out your parts like you are supposed to. You do what I tell you to and no screwing this up or I will transform you two dungleheads into dog biscuits and toss you to some demon dogs. And the last time anyone will see you are when you come out of a demon dog's ass. Comprende vou?"

Samantha stood just out of view of Gabriel and the others while listening intently. She had not trusted this 'Lucas' fellow and now it appeared that she had good reason. What was this all some kind of game? It was quite obvious that 'Lucas' and these two other guys did not really work together. So who were they? Part of her wanted to tell her family but then more than likely she would just be accused of being paranoid or something. But she knew that she had to be careful with this 'Lucas' character. Or…whoever he was. She then watched as he looked toward a corner and waved his hand which instantly caused a figure to take shape. Sam put her hand to her mouth as she continued to watch.

"Right." Gabriel pointed toward John. "That is the ghost that you two muttonheads are going to capture. And don't stand there boring me with who it is just DO IT. You don't want to piss me off boys. Trust me on that one." He gestured to the stuffed clown that was Castiel. "That is just minor compared to what I can do to someone who chooses to show their ass. But…I need some private conversation here with our…ghost. So, I am going to send you two somewhere until I need you. See you in a few." He then snapped his fingers and Ed and Harry disappeared. His glance then went back to John as he applauded. "Bravo. You have a lot of nerve calling me out like that and with such a potty mouth. See, I was trying to play nice but now….well….let's just say you have given me no choice but raise the stakes a little." He took another step toward John. "If I wanted to I could send your soul somewhere where NO ONE would ever find it. Then again if I was to do that it would take away all the sport wouldn't it? But tell me…what does it feel like John? To see the possible family that you could have had? Does it make you regret anything?" He put up a finger. "Wait, hold that thought. I have someone else that I need to talk to before I forget." Moving away from John he walked over to the stuffed clown and carefully picked it up from the floor. He made a face as he took in the stench coming from it along with the stuffing that was falling out before looking at it intently.

_I know that you can hear me in there, Castiel. You shouldn't have come here. I know what you came for and you can't have it. If you try and stop me I'll send you to a place where Heaven can't help you. Hmmm….you are looking kind of….pathetic. Looks like the dog hates you as much as I do. You could actually die this way and well….we just can't have that can we? Although I am deeply enjoying this lesson in utter humiliation it's time for a change._

Gabriel snapped his fingers and the stuffed clown instantly disappeared. He then brushed his hands and went back over to John. "Now…where were we? Oh, yes. We were talking about your family weren't we? As…pathetic as they are. You know your two loser sons couldn't even take me out? Boy they were A LOT of fun to mess with. I would have to say by far the most entertaining humans I have dealt with in…well at least a thousand years."


	6. John Winchester Meets The Trickster

Harry and Ed looked towards the guy that was telling them off and then at each other, before saying, almost in unison

"What parts are we supposed to be playing?"

"What does comprende vou mean?"

But at least the first question was answered for them as what seemed to be a ghost appeared in front of them.

"Oh Dude! An actual ghost! And we are going to catch it! With proton packs!" Harry said excitedly.

"Hey wait a minute!" Ed said. "He looks familiar. Yeah he looks like Dean, only older and with a beard."

"Oh yeah, he does!"

They then looked at the clown as it was pointed out. "Wait, that clown actually is someone? Holy crap!"

But before they could say anything else, that big white light happened again and they reappeared in a bathroom.

"What the hell? What the hell is happening here?" Harry said, going to the door, trying to open it and failing. "You know, this bathroom is weird! It doesn't have a lock! And what's weirder? It still won't open!"

Meanwhile...

John let the Trickster have his say, while he tried to remain calm. During his little rant he gave a couple of things away – that Castiel had still been in the clown and that he was still alive, although the Trickster sent him away. Funny, if the guy really was annoying him that much, why hadn't he killed him? This guy had a lot of power, tricksters generally did – they could bend reality and...Well trick people. But this guy seemed extra special. There was something more there and John was getting to him, another thing he had learned. He had to bite his tongue when the guy brought up Sam and Dean and the potential family he could have had.

"A chance of a family like this was taken away from me. But you know that, right?" John growled. "You think your real smart, working on people's weaknesses and insecurities. Sure it must take a genius to work out mine." John said, more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "You're a real smart Alec but you have a lot of power and that has to be respected. In fact you seem to have a little more power than a Trickster maybe should have. But that's not the point. Great power and great responsibility go hand in hand. Or at least they should. Seems to me you don't take too much responsibility, I mean you play with people like they are your toys. Have you even considered what will happen with these people once you have finished with them?" John said moving closer to him.

"And then you bring in these amateurs as some kind of threat. Those kids do not belong in the supernatural world fighting ghosts because whatever their intentions are they will end up getting themselves killed and they certainly don't need people like you messing with them and encouraging them! So you continue playing with people and making threats, but know this. I have been through hell, I have suffered the worst tortures they could subject me to, physically and emotionally to try and get me to do their will and they did not break me! They could not break me! So you will forgive me for not being easily intimidated after that. I just think it's time you took a good hard look at yourself, 'Lucas'" John said, doing the air quotes when he said his name. "See if YOU can't learn a lesson for a change." John said, smiling.

At this point Gabriel was starting to regret bringing in Ed and Harry for his ghost busters. Oh true he wanted to teach them a little lesson in that they were not great investigators like they thought but now they were just grating on his nerves. At least when he had dealt with Sam and Dean they had given him a challenge and not yammered on relentlessly. When his father had created humans these two were the perfect example of just WHY the angels might want them destroyed. After all, who could be forced to bow down to such idiots like this? Oh yes Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spangler were indeed the poster children for human birth control. And to Gabriel right now their voices were grating him like nails on a chalkboard. Would anyone truly miss these two incompetents if they were gone? With Sam and Dean it was different which is why they were still alive. But these two losers? If Gabriel didn't kill them they would just end up on a couch eating cookie dough ice cream and die as virgins. So why wouldn't he want to put them out of their misery at this point? But right now his focus was on John Winchester.

"My, my but aren't we a little touchy?" he asked sarcastically. "Awww….did I hit a little nerve there? I know more about you then you realize Johnny boy. And…as a matter of fact… yes I do think that I am VERY smart. I mean…I was able to find your pitiful little soul on this planet…universe now wasn't I? And hey, it's not my fault that humans make things so easy for me now is it? Respect? Well, now that is a word that no one has ever used with me. Not even your sons showed that to me. Although…I do recall Dean saying that I had style." He raised an eyebrow at John. "What are you my father? I'm not one of your little toy soldiers that you can just boss around." Letting his head fall back for a minute he let out a laugh before raising it again. "But they are my toys. And why should I care what happens to them? They create whatever it is they walk into. Oh sure I may compose the music but they create the words. And come on, could you honestly tell me that if you had the power that I did that you wouldn't use it to your advantage?"

The thing was this was not the first time that Gabriel had dealt with John Winchester but he was not about to tell him that. There had been a time when John had first started out hunting with Bobby Singer that they had come across his work in a small town. He should have blamed himself as at that time he had become a little sloppy and left a nice bread crumb trail right to him. But…he didn't blame himself because actually he had done it intentionally. With the power that he possessed he couldn't help but think that he was invincible…which he was as far as human means were concerned. And playing with hunters was SO much fun. But he had to admit that Bobby Singer and John Winchester had given him a run for his money. During their little tryst though Gabriel had not shown him his true identity but took on a different guise.

"Of course they are amateurs. Do you really think that I would bring in professionals for this?" Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Oh please. You make it seem like these two dorks are innocents in all this. They think they are above everyone else as ghost investigators. Their heads are bigger than the ones on their shoulders. How can you possibly blame me for the way they are? Do you think I told them to act like complete imbecile dicks? Oh no that was THEIR choice. And of course they could get killed! That was the whole purpose of me bringing them here! That is of course…unless they survive. I mean…there is always that slim little chance that they could. But…I doubt it. But hey…I guess they would learn their lesson about being too smart for their own little thongs wouldn't they?" He put his hand to his chest. "Ooooh…..you really have me shaking in my boots here. And break you? Well, maybe breaking you isn't my intention at all. What exactly IS my intention do you ask? I guess that is for me to know and YOU to find out." He clasped his hands. "Well, if you will excuse me I have a job to do. Oh and uhhh keep one thing in mind hunter boy with all your…..ballsiness and trying to lecture me." He gave John intimidating stare. "You are not the only pawn in this chess game. Play nice or piss me off and I just may take away some of the pieces on that chessboard." He gave a smirk and raised his fingers. "Ciao." He then snapped his fingers and disappeared.

John knew by the Lucas's reaction that he had gotten to him BIG TIME as he resorted to threats in the end, before disappearing. Could he carry through on his threats? For sure. Would he? If he pissed him off enough probably, the guy was arrogant enough to play god and treat people like their very own play thing then get all upset because someone had the nerve to stand up to him about it. Well too bad. Those guys were idiots and sure by going after ghosts and bringing themselves up they were only asking for trouble. But this was not trouble they had found or stupidly walked in on. They were dragged in on this against their will, pawns in one man's insane game of chess. The lesson they needed to be learn, would be taught to them at some point in their life, but it would be in a situation that they had gotten themselves into and would therefore be there fault. Would that result in their deaths? Maybe, but it was down to their choices, the way it was meant to be. Who did 'Lucas' think he was to take it into his own hands?

John didn't know where he would have put the two ghost hunters or whatever they claimed to be, but he doubted they would be far, considering the job Lucas wanted them to do.

"Mum! I need the toilet, but someone's already in there!" Bobby complained. Once the noises finished he had gone upstairs, but to his dismay, the door was shut – normally a sign that it was occupied.

"OK, dear, I'll just finish the washing up and I'll be right up." She said absently.

"But mum! I really need to go!"

"Then go knock! You're a big boy now, Bobby, your father and I are too busy just to drop everything for small things like that." she snapped, instantly regretting it. "Look, I'm sorry hunni, but you it will have to wait a few minutes."

"I don't like those men, their weird!" Bobby protested.

"I'll do it." Kelly-Anne said, sighing and going upstairs. She knocked on the door.

"Helloooo?" she said. "Mrs. Chuckles?"

"Hey, get us out of here!" a voice shouted from behind the door.

"Try the handle?"

"You think we haven't tried that already? It's stuck!" the voice said. Kelly-Anne reached up and pulled down the handle and opened the door to show Ed and Harry, openly shocked that the person that opened it was the little girl.

"You guys are wimps!" Kelly-Anne said before going downstairs. John, who had followed her up, was now smiling at the two. He didn't agree with what Lucas was doing with them, but having them shown up by a little girl was priceless.

"Right well we have jobs to do." Harry said. "Egon, switch me on! Ha ha! Always wanted to say that!"

"I'm not Egon, idiot, I'm Venkman! We've been through this! I'll start calling you Winston! Or even Louis!" Harry said angrily.

"Winston? Louis! You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me!"

"Fine! You're Venkman! But I'm Ray! He's cooler anyway!" Ed said.

"Venkman's funnier." Harry said as they finally managed to switch each other on. "Goggles next, and remember – do not cross the streams!"

"Because that would be bad." Harry added.

"And why would it be bad, Harry?"

"'Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.'" Harry said, looking very proud of himself at remembering the quote from 'Ghost Busters'.

"See! Told you that you would make a good Egon!"

"Shut up, Winston!" Harry said.

"Louis!" Ed bit back, but before they could start fighting, Harry – his goggles on, spotted something.

"Hey! Look! There he is!"

"Protons on full power! Get him!" They said, shooting at John. John ran down the stairs away from the two idiots, not sure if their guns would work or not – but he wouldn't put anything past this Lucas. The lasers ripped apart the walls and ceiling, burning and damaging everything they touched, pictures breaking, curtains set on fire. Man these guys were idiots. He would run outside to protect the family – if he could. He remained at the bottom of the stairs until they worked out how to turn the damn things off and then ran up the stairs charging at them.

"Crap he's coming!" one of them yelled, John wasn't sure who and as he did so, using all his concentration, he grabbed their goggles off of their heads and threw them out of the nearest open window, as far as he could in his ghost form, fortunately they hit the road and were crushed by passing cars.

"Alright Lucas! You've had your damn fun! Get these two idiots back home and stop your messing about before someone gets hurt!" John shouted, now hearing angry shouts and screams coming from downstairs as the family found out about the damage that had been done, along with the fact the curtains were on fire.


	7. Trench Coat Angel On A Screen?

It was strange for Castiel when he had been trapped in the stuffed clown. It was like he was aware of everything around him but could not move. So yes he had heard and seen everything around him including the fact that he had been named Mrs. Chuckles. He really couldn't be angry though as it had been done by an innocent little girl. However it didn't mean that he had to like it either. Not to mention he knew that whatever had turned him into the clown in the first place was laughing at him. The only thing that was crossing his mind at the time was the demi-god that Sam and Dean had dealt with called The Trickster. He possessed the kind of powers that he had witnessed and that meant that this was a dangerous situation. From what he had been told this trickster could kill anyone that it wanted as had been proven with Dean. But part of him was starting to question on whether this could be more than just a mere trickster. After all, this trickster also knew his name which was unlikely since he was an angel.

So if this wasn't a trickster….what was it? Not only had it trapped John Winchester's soul in this place but also a family as well. They were innocent victims in this twisted scenario. And from what he could tell were in as much danger as he or John were. He knew that if he didn't act quickly none of them would make it out of here alive. The dog had nearly torn him apart and yet The Trickster…or…whatever it was had zapped him out of the clown and into some kind of space. He had briefly been here before when he had tried to communicate to the older daughter. At that time had somehow managed to communicate through her computer even if it was only for a few moments. What he knew now was that she could hear him and would offer him the best chance at speaking with John. But then of course the question remained on if the oldest daughter would be able to see John to accomplish this? From what Castiel had observed as a stuffed clown she appeared to be quite intelligent so the hope was there.

After seeing the conversation with 'Lucas' and the ghost downstairs Samantha had wasted no time in heading back to her room. From what she could tell the name of the ghost was Johnny? Or maybe it was John? It was quite obvious to her that the two did not get along and possible knew each other. And after watching 'Lucas' disappear into thin air she knew that he was hardly human. So if he wasn't human then what was he? Was he somehow a danger to her and her family? All she knew was that she had to gather her thoughts. Heading into her room she closed the door and started to pace.

"Ok, Samantha, think. You are not going crazy. You saw a ghost and another person disappear into thin air. So…what do you do?"

"Samantha…"

Samantha glanced around the room as she heard her name called. "Hello?" This time she was a little more freaked then the last time because now she knew there was a ghost in the house and…whatever this Lucas character was. The only problem was she didn't know how she would be able to tell her parents about it without sounding like she was losing her mind.

"Samantha. Look at your computer screen."

Samantha turned around to look at her computer and let out a gasp as she saw a face staring back at her. But this time it was much clearer than last time and she tilted her head at it. "Mrs. Chuckles? What…what are you doing in my computer?"

"Listen to me," Castiel replied back. "My name is Castiel."

"Castiel?" Samantha replied with a confused look. "Wait, you…you were in my computer before! I remember! I thought that I was hearing things but…."

"This communication is difficult for me and I do not know how long I shall be able to maintain it. I am an angel and have come to return the soul of John Winchester to the land of the living. I have…been trapped by some kind of unknown force and require your assistance."

"Oh my god….you are…a REAL angel?" Samantha sat down in her chair in front of the computer. "I remember….Castiel…you are…known as…The Angel of Thursday. I read about you. I just….never believed that angels were real. And John Winchester….he's the ghost downstairs isn't he?"

"That is correct. You…and your family are in terrible danger, Samantha. The man who claims to be Lucas is not human. You must….speak to John Winchester and bring him back here. Together…we must strive to find the source of whom…or what this Lucas is. But…you must not speak a word of this to your parents. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I…I understand. But I don't know how to…"

"You must go….NOW." Castiel replied before starting to fade and then finally disappearing off the computer screen.

Gabriel had to admit that he thought bringing in John Winchester and taking care of his soul would be an easy task. After all he had done such a thing thousands…heck MILLIONS of times before. There had been many souls that had been trapped between Heaven and Hell that he had…guided to certain places. Some of the spirits that had been haunting places? Oh yeah he had been responsible for some of those. Of course it wasn't as fun as playing with mortals though. That was part of the reason that he incorporated the two together so that he could have twice the fun. It was true that he could have just taken out John toward the beginning if he wished but he wanted to screw around with him a bit. Only now things had become MUCH more complicated with the unexpected arrival of Castiel and it had placed him in a much fouler mood. It would easy for him to kill Castiel if he wanted but he simply couldn't do it. Trying to stop him or not Castiel was still his fellow brother and part of his angelic family. But right now he had to put his focus on the family if this was going to work.

"Mr. Freeman," he replied after teleporting himself to another part of the house. "I realize how strange this must all be for you. Trust me in that this is not unusual and will be taken care of. You and your family are in good hands."

"Great," the father replied with a less than amusing look. "Look, I don't believe in such things as ghosts ok? Just whatever this is…" He paused and let out a sigh. "All I want is my family back to normal. So just…do what you have to do." He then turned and headed out of the room.

"Oh you can trust that I will do just that," Gabriel replied with a slight smirk. He then turned as he heard someone coming down the stairs. His grin got even bigger as he recognized the older daughter. "Why hello again."

Samantha looked at 'Lucas' uneasily. She had been secretly hoping to avoid running into him again. This guy just gave her the creeps all the way around. Even though she didn't like him she couldn't appear rude or it might rouse suspicion. "He….Hello Mr…Trickloki."

"Please," Gabriel replied as he took a step forward and took Samantha's hand before raising it to his lips and placing a kiss upon it. "Call me, Lucas."

"Lu…Lucas," Samantha replied as she blushed slightly. She was quite shy and no man had ever kissed her hand before. But as she looked back into Lucas' eyes she remembered what Castiel had told her upstairs in that he was not human. She instantly took a step back. "I…I just came down here to find my father."

"Oh did you?" Gabriel replied as stepped toward her. "Well, I don't think that's your reason at all." He continued moving toward her as he backed her toward a wall. "I think you came down here for another reason."

"I…" Samantha took a swallow as she felt the wall behind her. She closed her eyes as Lucas' face loomed in front of hers. "I…need to find my father."

"I think that you are lying," Gabriel replied back as he grazed her cheek with his hand. "You're trying to hide something from me in that pretty little head of yours. Why can't you look at me? Is it because of me? Do I make you nervous? Oh trust me in that you have nothing to fear from me, sweetheart." He leaned in closer to her lips and pulled back when he heard a sudden loud crash. "I swear I am going to KILL those two dumb asses!" He reluctantly moved away from Samantha. "We'll continue this little conversation later my sweet." Without another word he then left the room and headed out to find the source of the noise. Now he had TWO reasons to want to off those two ass hats. When he was out of view of everyone he then snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Samantha took in a few breaths and when she was sure that Lucas was gone began to walk around the room. She was looking desperately for any sign of the ghost that Castiel had called John. And right now was finding nothing. Had that loud crash had something to do with him? The way Castiel had spoke it was important that she find him if it meant saving her family. "John? John Winchester?" she called out hoping that he would hear her. "Please, I…I need to speak to you."

Ed and Harry looked pleased with themselves. At least they did until the parents of the family found out about the damage they had made to the house. The father had to grab a little fire extinguisher to put the fire, while cursing under his breath.

"You two have caused more damage in this house in the space of ten minutes, than the ghost has since we've been here!" he growled. "Now tell me you have at least caught the damn thing?"

Harry and Ed looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

"Well you know, ghost hunting is a complicated business..." Ed said.

"...It is not exactly an exact science..." Harry continued.

"So another words, you have not came close!"

"Well I think that's a bit harsh..."

"Look, I have some business to take care of, but the two of you had better be gone by the time we have come back. And for the love of God, do not use those guns!" The father said before going back towards the kitchen, along with his wife and two youngest.

John stayed in the bedroom out of the way of everyone as the two amateurs didn't seem to have the sense to come in there after him or even attempt to stop him. He heard the father having a go at the two busters, telling them to get out of the house, causing him to chuckle to himself. It seemed Lucas's plan was not so smart after all. Once everything had died down a bit, John was sure he could hear his name being called. Not very loud, but he was sure he could hear it. He walked out of the bedroom, past Ed and Harry who seemed to be a little too distracted to notice anything...

"It's your fault!" Ed said. "You could not hit the target with a heat seeking missile!"

"Ghosts don't give off heat, dumb ass that would miss anyway! Besides, you're the one who set the curtains on fire!"

"No! That was you! Besides, this was the first time I've used one of these things! It's not like I've had any training!"

"Well it's my first time too!" Harry said. "And these weapons are really hard to use!"

"Yeah!" Ed agreed. "It was that Lucas's fault! He put us here against our will and gave us weapons we did not know how to use!"

Meanwhile, downstairs John went into the sitting room to find Samantha there calling his name.

"Samantha." he said, a few times getting louder each time but it appeared that she could not hear her.

"Samantha, you are being called." Kelly-Anne said, coming in.

"You can hear me?" John asked.

"Uh-huh" Kelly-Anne said, looking right at him.

"Ok, tell her that my name is John. It is not me attacking your family; it is Lucas messing with you. I am trying to help."

"Uh John said, he's trying to help us and its Lucas messing with our family and not him." Kelly-Anne said.

"If you know how I can help, please tell me."

"He wants to know how he can help." Kelly-Anne said on John's behalf.

Mrs. Freeman could not believe what was happening to her house! They had just barely moved in and it was getting destroyed! It was bad enough that this ghost had showed up but now the people who were trying to get rid of it were causing chaos. Normally she was good at keeping her patience but it was definitely wearing thin now. She was relieved that her husband stepped in to put in his two cents or she was going to pound those two idiots! Of course she couldn't help but feel a little guilty since she was the one who called Trickloki Investigations in the first place. What kind of name was that anyway? And it had seemed strange to her that the commercial had suddenly appeared on a television that turned on all by itself. There definitely was something strange about this situation. She would have to find this Lucas fellow and tell him that he owed them for any damage done to their home. But right now she wanted to protect her children from the events unfolding.

Samantha continued looking around the room for any sign of the ghost but found nothing. Now she was starting to get a little worried that he wasn't there anymore or something. And worse yet she didn't want to run into that Lucas fellow again. "Please, John Winchester. It's very important that I speak with you. Please show yourself to me." She then jumped when her little sister showed up. A look of confusion spread across her face until she realized that she could apparently hear John. "I know it's not you, John. I don't blame you for any of this." She then looked around nervously. "We can't talk here. Follow me to my room." She then looked at Kelly-Anne. "No, Kelly-Anne you stay here. And whatever you do don't tell Mom or Dad about John ok?"

"Ok," Kelly-Anne replied with a pouty face. "But I can help too."

"You already did," Samantha replied as she touched her cheek. "But now your big help is to keep Mom and Dad from finding out about her little secret. That's a BIG job for someone like you." She gave her a playful wink and then watched as Kelly-Anne winked back and went toward the kitchen. "John, wherever you are please follow me." She then headed upstairs and to her room before closing the door. "My little sister means well but trust me if anyone can keep my parents at bay it's her." Walking over to her computer she took a seat in the chair. "All right, Castiel, I brought him."

The computer screen briefly flickered and then a faint image of Castiel appeared. "Excellent. John, I apologize that I have not been able to speak with you. I have been…imprisoned and still am which is why this communication may be sporadic. This…being that has instigated all of this…is a power unlike any I have ever seen on Earth. I fear….for this family and I fear….for your soul. Somehow I feel…that he knows my purpose here and what I am. I do not understand how this can be possible but…he communicated to me telepathically and knew my name."

"Lucas knows….that you are an angel?" Samantha asked as she placed her elbows on the table. "That must be why he is trying to stop you. But…I didn't think ANYTHING could take on an angel."

"This is something that I have never experienced before. Sam and Dean….told me of a being they stumbled upon called The Trickster. They told me it was some kind of…demi-god. But no demi-god that I know of would dare to have gone to such…lengths to do this to an angel. Let us just say….that they have a strained relationship with Heaven. Not to mention his power exceeds any kind of demi-god that I have known."

"So, the question becomes…if this being isn't a Trickster as you said, Castiel," Samantha shifted slightly in her chair. "Then what is it?"

"Precisely," Castiel replied back. "John, have you ever hunted one of these? And if so…how does one kill them? If we do not do something this….Lucas is going to kill this family and take your soul. And I would not be surprised if he also killed me. We must stop him before it is too late."

Samantha glanced around the room not knowing exactly where John was. "What is a trickster anyways? And why would he want to kill my family? John….why does he want your soul?"


	8. The Trickster's Identity Is Revealed

John watched the two siblings talk to each other before following Samantha up the stairs to her room. What would people think if they saw him? He thought. An older man going into a female teenager's room. Of course he followed her in there with no bad intentions and even if he wanted to do something, he couldn't in his ghostly form. But he knew what it must look like from a parent's point of view if they could see them. Ed and Harry were still arguing over whose fault the mess was and what they should do as John passed them. They wanted to leave, but there was something about that Lucas that seemed to scare the crap out of them.

Going into Samantha's room and looked at her computer screen when that familiar face appeared. It was not very clear but was good enough to tell who it was. Castiel. He listened to what he and Samantha had to say.

"Angel!" John exclaimed looking upwards and rubbing his head. The warriors of God, he had researched them before but they were not exactly high on his list of creatures to kill so somehow the name slipped to the bottom of the pile a little. Plus, in a way he did not want to believe that they existed, especially after what happened to his wife, Mary. Where were these Angels then? It made him angry and he had a lot of awkward questions concerning that, but now was not the time. Right now, all he was concerned with was helping the family and getting his ass out of there and to do that he needed Castiel on his side.

The truth was He had hunted something like this guy before. In fact he was sure it was the same person. At the time he had thought he had successfully killed it, but apparently not.

"Yes I have. Like you said, this creature acts like a demi-god called the Trickster. I agree that he is more than he appears to be." John said. "As to how to kill him? I do not know. To kill a Trickster they need to be staked in the heart with a stake dipped in the blood of one of his victims. That is what I did, but it appeared that either he tricked me into thinking I killed him, or that it did not work. Either way he backed off from that point on, letting me believe he was dead until now." John said, scratching his beard as he was thinking. "Obviously In order to stop him, we need to find out exactly who or what he is. Maybe then we could work out how to kill him, or at least hurt him. Or it might cause him to back off and leave." John said, cursing himself.

"I have already said to him I think he is more than what he appears to me. Dammit!" he said. "I believe that if he was convinced that we thought he was a Trickster and one of us staked him in the heart, he would leave, to protect his identity if nothing else. After what I said to him already, that will not work. I guess my subtle hunter wiles are a little rusty. I think our only hope is to find out what he is exactly and work from there. Do you think you can help with that?" he asked Castiel. "Surely there must be some resources you could use in heaven to help your cause?"

Gabriel could feel his anger rising as he walked around the house. It was bad enough that Ed and Harry had become too bumbling idiots that nearly burned down the house. But now they had made him look like a fool and that did NOT settle with him in the least. And to make matters worse now they had interfered in his conversation with the older daughter Samantha Freeman. Of course she was what one would consider jail bait for him but he didn't care. Hell he was thousands of years older than her. But wasn't age just a number? True she was cute but Samantha was also smart and could be an asset to his cause. And he also knew that she was hiding something from him because he had the ability to read mortal minds. But what was it? Did she know something about him? How could she though? It wasn't as if he looked anything like the Archangel Gabriel from pictures in The Bible. There was one thing he knew and that was IF he was somehow found out this would be the one to do it. He would catch up with Samantha after he dealt with Ed and Harry.

His ears picked up the familiar sounds of their voices as they bickered and he let out a sigh. Well if they wanted to argue then he would give them something to argue about. Right now it was taking everything he had not to just smite them outright. He could actually see why Dean Winchester thought that these two were obnoxious geeks. At least he had proven his point to the two and that was real ghost busters they were not. Normally he wouldn't have cared if they had burned down this house. As far as he was concerned the entire family needed to die. Well…except for Samantha. Oh he could think of ways to make her useful. Sure she might need a little persuasion but he could easily do that. And…if he wanted he could always use her family as a bargaining chip too. Another reason that he may have wanted the family to live. But now he had a couple of annoying insects that had been buzzing in his ears too long and needed to be exterminated. Only he was going to have some fun with this one. With a snap of his fingers he teleported himself to where Ed and Harry were.

"All right you two dingle dorks I've had enough." Gabriel replied in an irritable tone as he gestured with his hand and closed the room door behind him. "You know I tried to be patient with you. Give you a chance to prove yourself. You failed miserably and went down in flames quicker than a geek trying to score the prom queen. I mean…seriously….guys….how are you still alive? The ghosts you chase must have kicked your asses more than a few times but why did they let you live? They must just like to play with you and make you think that you hold the upper hand. Because….I gotta tell you boys you are NOT professionals in ANY sense of the word. You are pathetic….wannabe….ghost bait….losers. Let me guess. You do this….get up to try and score women? Or it is men? I mean hey it wouldn't surprise me at this point. Either way…" He made an L on top of his forehead with his thumb and index finger. "LOSER. You two have a better chance at scoring with a dead body than a live one." He started to pace the room. "You disappoint me, boys. I really had high hopes for you. But…now you have given me no choice." He paused and clasped his hands. "I have to kill you. Hey, sorry it's part of my rules. See, either you…play the little scenario that I put you in and don't give me any crap thus persuading me to allow you to live. Or…you annoy the hell out of me and I shorten your little scene by killing you. This is the option that you two have placed yourselves in. But…." He raised a finger. "You are fortunate that you have caught me in a good mood. So, instead of killing you both….I'm going to give you a choice. One of you is going to leave her alive. That's right. You will be able to leave her unscathed and be able to pursue your…LOSER lifestyle. Whereas the other… will die. So the question is….who will it be?" He paused. "That is something that you two will have to decide amongst yourselves. So boys…" He raised an eyebrow. "Which one of you is the one whose ghost facer days are numbered?"

It was strange in this situation for Castiel because he knew John Winchester but John did not know him. John Winchester was a hunter and most likely not that familiar with angels if at all. Of course it wasn't as if angels had been down on earth that long either. Their numbers and presence had increased ever since Lilith had begun to open the seals to free Lucifer from Hell. That was when they believed it was time to take action. Then again if one believed in demons how could they not angels? However in the case of John Winchester he was known all through Heaven with his tragic story. And of course his sons Dean and Sam were as well. His sons had become close friends of Castiel's now which is why had taken on the mission himself of bringing John's soul back to the land of the living. Only now he had hit a slight speed bump with whomever this supernatural being was that had them both prisoner. He would have to rationalize with John and hope they could work this out together.

"Yes," Castiel replied from inside the computer screen. "I am an angel of the Lord, John Winchester. Your sons Dean and Sam are my allies back down on Earth. Lucifer has been…released from his prison in Hell and must be stopped to prevent The Apocalypse that shall destroy the planet. Unfortunately…it has already begun but we need your help, John Winchester. That is why…I was sent here to find you."

"I don't believe this," Samantha replied as he put her hands to her mouth. "Lucifer? The Devil? Who was cast down from Heaven by the Archangel Michael? He is…now on Earth and wishes to destroy it? The Apocalypse…as in…Revelations? The Rapture?"

"Yes, Samantha. And the battle that shall take place on Earth between Michael and Lucifer after they have been given consent by their chosen vessels. I assure you that this is all real."

Samantha walked over and took a seat on her bed as she continued to listen to Castiel and John. Never in her life did she expect to be witnessing the conversation between an angel and….what was John anyway? A ghost? This was just like some kind of horror movie and she was in the middle of it. Only for some reason she was not really scared. Oh sure Lucas was a little intimidating but she could get past that. Although it was kind of freaky that she didn't know exactly what he was? And this Trickster was a demi-god? Didn't that have something to do with pagan mythology or something?

"Staked in the heart…with a stake dipped in the blood of their victims?" Castiel asked in a slightly confused voice. "And this did not kill him? This is very troubling indeed. The first thing that I must do is try and free myself from this prison." There was a pause before the sound of an Enochian chant could be heard. "Omnipotentis dei potestateminvoco Ab orbe terrae, hunc angelum obsequentem domine."

"I still do not understand what this…Trickster is?"Samantha replied as she looked back at John. "Why he would cause all of this to happen? And why…" She suddenly jumped as Castiel appeared right in front of her.

"He is creating all of this chaos…in order to obtain John Winchester's soul. Your family…just happens to be in the crossfire. My apologies for frightening you," Castiel replied as he looked back at Samantha a brief moment before turning his attention back to John. "If we are to try and defeat whatever this creature is I must do so away from my prison. We must do this quickly before he discovers that I have escaped. There is something that I can try." Holding up his hand Castiel concentrated in a corner of the room as he closed his eyes. He then opened them after a few moments. "I know what we need to trap him….Holy Oil."

"Holy Oil?" Samantha asked. "Where are we going to get that?" She then looked at Castiel. "What is he, Castiel?"

"We must…prepare a ring of Holy Oil around him and light it," Castiel replied as he glanced at Samantha. "When he is trapped within the ring he cannot leave it or his vessel shall be destroyed." He paused. "He is an angel, Samantha. But no ordinary one. He is…the Archangel….Gabriel."

Samantha's eyes widened. "The Archangel Gabriel? The Messenger of God? The Spirit of Truth who shall blow his trumpet to signal The Rapture?" She made a face. "Wait…I was HIT ON by the Archangel Gabriel?" She shook her head. "No, the Archangel Gabriel would not do anything that we have seen here. It…it must be some kind of mistake."

"I assure you that it is no mistake. Gabriel descended to Earth from Heaven but has remained secret…until now. All of the angels of Heaven know one another. We…bear a certain mark that only we can see. For whatever reason Gabriel has chosen to behave in this manner. My powers…are nothing compared to his. The only way to defeat him is to produce the ring of Holy Oil and trap him as I stated. I shall go to Jerusalem to obtain it and return when I can." There was a sudden gust of wind followed by the fluttering sound of wings and Castiel disappeared.

Samantha blinked as Castiel completely disappeared in front of her and then looked over at John. "Do you believe this? That my family is being tormented by the Archangel Gabriel? That he…wishes us…you…harm? Why…why would an angel who appeared to The Virgin Mary to tell her that she was to bear the son of God do such a thing? This makes no sense to me, John. Angels…are supposed to be self-righteous and…."

Both Harry and Ed both tried to object as Lucas ran them down with his words, calling them a loser and making out that they had no luck with women.

"Hey we have killed plenty of ghosts! Ok maybe one...OK but we've come close! And they don't normally come with families!" Harry said.

"I've had a girlfriend!" Ed said.

"When?" Harry asked which resulted in Ed kicking him. They both stopped when Lucas gave them the ultimatum.

"What? You're not serious? You can't do that!...You got us into this!" they both objected almost in unison. The look on Lucas's face however told them how serious he was and they both turned from him to look at each other, before pointing at each other and saying "Take him!"

"He's the one that destroyed everything!" Ed said.

"What? No I didn't!" Harry said right before they started wrestling with each other, both of them trying to get the other in a head lock.

Meanwhile...

Angels so it was true, they did exist. John knew a little about them, it would have been reckless to learn everything you could about Demons without finding at least a little about Angels as well, it was obvious that if one exists the other may too. But the news that Castiel was an Angel just troubled John even more – he knew Lucas was more than just a mere Trickster. Castiel being an Angel proved that as a Trickster surely would not be powerful enough to mess with an Angel. So what was powerful enough? Only three things sprung to mind and none of them sat well with him. An Arch-Angel could, normal Angels could be swatted aside like flies with them. The other two were God and the Devil, if they existed. But if Angel's existed then Why not God? And that logic of course worked for Demons and the Devil as well.

"An Angel. So they do exist." John said. "We have been fighting demons, losing loved ones and it's only until a potential apocalypse happens, that you come down here and help out!" John growled. After what happened with his wife, he could not help it, but he knew he needed this guy's help and if he was indeed a friend to his sons he couldn't be that bad.

"I know a little about Angels, I believed it to be foolish to learn about demons and not Angels, although most of my time has been researching and fighting Demons, so my knowledge of Angels is not as great. What has the power to mess with an Angel like he has with you?" John asked openly. "I can think of only three."

John stepped back as Castiel appeared in front of them and just listened as he and Samantha talked.

"An archangel. Hmm sounds like you guys are a little like us – you all have your own agenda's it seems." John said. "Be quick, there is not a lot I can do to protect the family when he arrives back." John said before the Angel left.

"Samantha listen to me. I know there is a lot you do not understand but you must remain calm. We must not let him know that we know who he is. When you are around him, do your best to think of other things, but if you can avoid him where ever possible. I will do my best to distract him and protect your family. Because I am a...ghost or whatever it is I am, it may make it harder for him to read my mind, although I cannot guarantee anything. You are doing a good job Samantha, your parents would be proud of you" John said kindly. 


End file.
